Tuesday, May 17, 2011

15 reasons to BAN pens and pencils from the classroom

1. Too easy to lose


2. Dangerous weapons


3. Messy


4. Notes


5. Doodling


6. Pen tattoos


7. Limits editing


8. Paper mountains


9. Cost of photocopying


10. Not green


11. Encourages academic curriculum


12. Paper homework


13. Red pen assessment


14. Skews assessment


15. Real world deficit


This was inspired by Katie Stansberry's original idea


Bob Harrison said...

I remember when ballpoint pens were banned from my primary classroom!! The teacher said it would ruin my handwriting!

I don't know what she would have said about a mouse?

Anonymous said...

When my children started school, I suggested to their Headteacher that the pencil was a barrier to learning, since they could both already type to a degree but were struggling with motor skills of writing. Predictably, she didn't agree.

Harold Jarche said...

Slide rules - now those should be banned for sure!

Rachael said...

Very true. And torturous for kids pushed into handwriting practise when the rest of us type away happily in the outside world... outrageous!

Eugenio said...

I can't believe what I have read in some comments. I think everyone must be able to write with a pen AND a keyboard.

Vance Stevens said...

Hey Eugenio, thanks for commenting here. I think most of this including the original post is tongue in cheek, a good example of F.U.N.

Speaking of can't believe what I'm reading in the comments, though, check out the comments to what I think is an interesting twist on intuition by Trent Batson, here: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2011/05/18/The-Classroom-is-Distance-Learning-While-the-Web-is-Connected-Learning.aspx?Page=1

I can't believe what I'm reading in those comments! What's your take? Is it me??

Rob Alton said...

I rarely use them these days, but they are very handy when there is no power or when handheld devices run out of juice.

There be a word for the feeling experienced when your phone/tablet/pad/pod/netbook is juiceless.

Pooky said...

What a great post! Please could I host it as a guest post on my blog - with the appropriate links back? www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog

Unknown said...

One good reason to keep pens/ pencils

as human species we learn through movement and spacial associations. On a keyboard a "a" is an "a" is an "a" we have no way of associating it with a time and space association.
Also as the ONLY animal with a pose-able thumb which has been proven to be essential to our learning & evolution, it is not used in basic keyboard work.

sure PC's should be used more in school than they are at the moment - BUT we should not underestimate the value of writing the "old fashion way"

school is to educate for life... not train for work!

Donald Clark said...

Lighten up Mike. I assume you're using a keyboard to write this response. It was a light hearted piece pointing out the ridiculous bias teaching and schools have towards writing with these implements. I'm not saying 'never' use pens and pencil. You need both, it's just that typing is more common. By the way the most common use of the opposable thumb is texting and games controllers.

Pooky - feel free

ctl_alt_del.geek said...

Hi Donald, interesting poke. By riposte can I point you to an article "Laptopers in an educational practice: Promoting the personal learning situation" (Lindroth / Bergquist).

It is an interesting counterpoint to your argument - but couldn't help also mentally linking this to one of your earlier 'rants' about the Uni lecture paradigm.

Net result? Educators need to work harder to be more engaging. I don't really care about the medium (laptop / pencil / slate), but more needs to be done on contextualising a piece of work and letting students (with available assistance) get on with their own learning. Not doodling or IM-ing.

Carol said...

When my son was doing his GCSE's he was able to type much faster than write and in fact writing was a a challenge. He could type as fast as his thoughts. When I asked school if it was possible for him to word process his English and History exams in particular, I was told that unless he was dyslexic or had special needs then this was out of the question.

Sianny said...

You must be joking, Donald! In fact, I'm sure you are! Children need handwriting skills as well as keyboard, mouse and oral commands.

The problem is that students nowadays are so used to using gestures on Wii to get instant results. Sadly, 'life is not like that'.

Teachers need to provide stimulating lessons to encourage all-round capability.

Cilla Carvalho said...

This is supposed to be fun, right? I can't take this seriously. Sorry.

Donald Clark said...

Don't be sorry. It's serious and fun - these concepts are not mutually exclusive.

Darren Whysall said...

Great points, another key factor in the use of either is the purpose of any assessment. Are we measuring a student's ability to speed write or measure the transfer and retention of knowledge. Sometimes both or either. But I think this is often forgotten!

Unknown said...

But what about this:


Anonymous said...

seriously cant you understand that using a pencil is just as important as the computer because if we only use computers we'll forget how to communicate properly also it is much easier to spot a mistake when wriiten in pen because on a computer everything is neat therfore giving the illusion that everything is right. Computers give you all the answers in correct grammar and spelling, on paper you actually have to think not the computer. If we only use computers we have to teach children to type whih is just as hard a process as learning to write. I'm not saying we shouldnt use the computer im just sating pen and paper are just as important.

Steven said...

I am a student, I go to a private school. We use pencils rarely and use our tablets and laptops most. We still need pencils if we don't have electricity or if the sun reverses polarity..... however, computers are NOT a replacement for pencils.